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THINGS TO EXPECT:
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| FREEZING NIGHTS
Cover cold plants – always remove covering during the day. |
| FREEZE INJURY OF
CITRUS FRUIT – Most citrus
fruit will not. freeze unless temperatures drop into the mid 20’s or lower
for at least a couple hours. Lemons, limes and other thin-skinned
fruit on the upper and outer periphery of trees may receive some injury
at about 28F. |
| COLD WEATHER DISCOLORS
FOLIAGE – Older leaves of evergreens turn dull green to yellow and even
drop. Even some actively growing shoots may appear chlorite. Winter lawns
and some shrubs may develop purplish-green leaves. |
| WINTER
WEEDS are especially persistent in moist soil areas or
following rains. |
| SLOW GROWTH OF VEGETABLES
results from cold, salty soils and leached fertility. apply fertilizer
and water longer but no more often than necessary. |
 APHIDS & WORMS
can infest garden vegetables. |
| WINTER LAWN DISEASES
– Don't water too often, apply fungicide when needed and when possible
avoid ruing during high moisture periods. The perennial ryes are more disease
resistant to fungus. |
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THINGS TO DO:
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| BE ALERT TO WEATHER
FORECASTS and protect cold tender plants when necessary. |
| PRUNE DECIDUOUS
FRUIT & SHADE TREES & GRAPES – but first sharpen up your know-how. |
| TRANSPLANT BARE
ROOT PLANTS. Purchase good quality plants and transplant. them promptly.
Preventing root drying is especially important on pecan trees. |
| CHECK STAKED TREES.
Remedy trunk injury from ties and rubbing. |
| FERTILIZE WINTER
LAWNS monthly to maintain good green color. Nitrate fertilizers give quickest
response during cool seasons. Fertilizing dormant Bermuda lawns now will
only stimulate weeds. |
| LIVING CHRISTMAS
TREES should be moved outdoors to a shaded, cool location soon after the
holidays. They can be planted into permanent locations as soon. as soil
temperatures warm a bit. Remember large landscape trees from small Christmas
trees grow! Allow space. |
| PREPARE GARDEN SOILS
for spring vegetable planting, early planting means better yields in most
spring crops. |
| WATER BERMUDA GRASS
LAWNS about monthly if rains aren't sufficient. |
| CONTROL WEEDS. Contact
herbicides are effective on young tender seedlings. Mid-day applications
are more effective during the winter season. |
| BARE ROOT TRANSPLANTING
should be given priority by gardeners this month. And local plant nurseries
have been receiving a good selection of deciduous trees, and roses. Purchase
them while they’re fresh and plant them promptly ,and properly! Without
soil around their root, these plants are subject to dehydration even in
their dormant state of growth. Because of this, roots of bare-root plants
are held in wet sawdust, etc., from digging until purchase, or shipped.
with individual moisture-retaining root packs. |
| NOW’s also an 0.K.
time to move those trees and shrubs that may be ill-logically located in
local landscapes. Dig the new location and prepare for the planting first.
Next, carefully dig the plant out, taking as much root system as practical
and minimizing their exposure to drying. Then, after planting, discretely
balance their branching while pruning back a third to a half. Evergreens
should not be bare-root transplanted. A ball of earth should be moved with
their root system, which shouldn’t be allowed to break away during digging,
moving and planting. DON’ T PLANT TREES 6 SHRUBS TOO DEEPLY ! Position
crowns, that stem-root junction, just below the ground surface. Suffocation
of the vital cambium tissue often results, at the base of trunks or stems,
when covered with too much soil, particularly if it’s kept overly wet.
Total and relatively sudden death often results, but it may not occur until
weeks, months or sometimes years later. Cutting the bark away from the
lover trunks or stem of trees or shrubs, killed by having been. planted
too deeply, reveals gray-black necrotic cambium tissue sometimes descriptively
called "Collar Rot". PRUNING is another priority chore for January. And
few things fascinate gardeners more. Proper pruning is an art it takes
talent, know-how, perception and practice. Many locally-grown Mulberry
trees are striking testimonies to this truth, not to mention numerous other
living monuments to ill-advised pruning practices. Remember, the purpose
of pruning is to remove undesired growth and induce proper shape of plants.
Don’t attempt to alter natural development of plants any more than necessary.
You can’ t undo a pruning cut! Sharpen your know-how and your tools before
you start. Deciduous trees, shrubs and roses should be pruned first, then
the needle-type evergreens. Broad-leaf evergreens such as citrus, bougainvillea,
etc., are best pruned about early February. If hedges are to be cut back,
wait until early March, so that seasonal resumption of active foliar growth
will minimize their duration of stem bareness. Deciduous fruit trees should
be pruned each January to retain practical size, balance limbs and thin
twigging for good fruiting. Remember, fruit is borne on younger twigs,
so leave a uniform distribution of these for this year’s crop |
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